Posted on 06/10/2010 11:11:42 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Abby Sunderland, 16, who is attempting to become the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe, was feared lost at sea today after her crew lost contact with her boat.
Jeff Casher, an engineer on Sunderland's support team, said two emergency beacons on her boat are now signaling she is in trouble.
Abby's mother, MaryAnne Sunderland, told ABC News that Abby manually activated two beacons around 6 a.m. Pacific Time Thursday.
A beacon designed to automatically go off when it contacts water had not been activated, she said.
Abby was in 20-25 foot waves at the time of last contact, with 35-knot winds, said MaryAnne Sunderland, who is due to give birth at the end of the month. She was shaken but focused on trying to get a rescue effort together.
The closest land to Abby's boat was Reunion Island, which is east of Madagascar. The nearest ship was 400 miles away. Rescuers were trying to contact the ship.
Casher told ABC News that he last spoke with the 16-year-old sailor around 6 a.m. PDT after she had been knocked down twice during the night because of strong winds -- meaning that her sail had touched the water.
One of those knock-downs, Casher said, ripped the radar off the boat. She had been speaking with Casher on a satellite telephone earlier because of engine problems and was in the process of fixing those problems when she told Casher she'd call right back.
She has not been heard from since, except for the distress signals.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
An awfully young age to learn that you should never overestimate your seamanship while underestimating the sea...
‘At 16 - kids are supposed to be irresponsible. No excuse for the parents.’
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My thoughts exactly.
of course this happened... i sure hope she's safe... she's so young... if she's not okay, we'll hear all about how she died doing what she loved... praying...
Please tell me the parents are dead and did not make the decision to let a child go on a sailboat by herself. Prayers to her safe return and that her parents are somehow comforted in this hour of need.
All children should be the same. No one should be allowed to do anything that the general public disapproves of.
Meanwhile, half the kids graduating public schools are functional illiterates, but at least they aren't doing anything risky and stupid, other than drugs and sex and...
So, what you’re saying is that Armstrong and Aldrin were high school sophomores when they landed on the Moon??
You did recognize the sarcasm in my statement?
I recall the stories about her government trying to stop her from going on this trip.
I wonder why the wanted to do that?
http://www.kdvr.com/news/ktla-abby-sunderland-missing,0,6609011.story
The nearest boat in the area is reported to be at least 40 hours away.
I live vegetable is better than a dead adventurer. Would you let your 16 year old sail around the world alone?
Yes, courage and boldness are to be admired, absolutely. But this girl is 16, a minor—her parents should have stopped this.
Better to live as a vegetable and be safe. Or at least think you are.
Hear, hear!!
Prayers inbound for this brave young girl.
Aspiring to anything out of the ordinary is stupid. The question is 16 really old enough to do this sort of thing. In most states you are not considered old enough to have sex, drink beer or drive without supervision at 16. In general those are good rules.
In the immortal words of Donald Rumsfeld: "it's not the unknowns we know, it's the unknowns we don't know that get us".
When you are 16 everything is an unknown you don't know. I would suggest that she really didn't have enough sailing experience to take on this trip. It's a trip that you should have a decade of serious off shore passagemaking under your belt before attempting.
It is also worth considering "am I willing to die now". It's a lot less sad to die at 53 doing dare-devil stunts (Like Jeff Fossett, a hero of mine) than doing them at 16 when you really do have your whole life ahead of you.
If it were my kid I would have said no. But no matter what I still have to respect her spunk and bravery. And hope she does well. I just think it was way bigger and harder than she imagined.
Actually no:-)
You are right. Totally irresponsible. Sixteen year olds need a parents permission to get their ears pierced.
You have to be 21 yrs old to buy a beer in most states, but you can set sail around the globe at what? 16 yrs old, is just reckless, parents should never have supported this. Parents have an obligation to protect their children...
I hope Abby is alive, and will be rescued.
So does that make you a squash or cucumber?
You think they just started taking risks when they turned 21?
People like that take risks from an early age.
btt
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